


The Ticking of a Stopped Clock

by ElizaXSpears



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Death, Dreams, F/M, Hurt, M/M, a bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 04:21:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3922696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizaXSpears/pseuds/ElizaXSpears
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sebastian just wants his dreams to be reality and his damn reality to be a nightmare</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ticking of a Stopped Clock

**Author's Note:**

> Again, done for another prompt on Tumbler. Someone who wanted feels to be hurt and I hope this does that request well.

Dreams were nightmares to him. They gave him a couple of hours of rest from his tears only for them to end and force him to live in the hell called reality. He wanted his dreams to last forever, the only place where he felt like smiling wasn’t a guilty action, where he just felt like he could be happy. Then again, what was a dream? They were made up from his inner emotions to give him what he desired then take it all away from him, much like the fire that had taken his daughter, eventually his wife and his self-worth. At last back then, he still had his partner.

Now, who did he have? No one would be the correct answer. No one was around anymore for him to talk too, to hold and love, just the empty home he had wanted to share with Joseph. He found it slightly humors how he was back in the same position he was in years ago with a bottle in hand, collapsed on the couch in a lonely dark home, except this time, he wouldn’t see his partner come through the front door with food he neglected his body of. Now the only way to see his face was to stare at a picture which he kept with happier times of his family. Even then, just seeing the deceased man in a picture was enough to make him fall to his knees and sob.

When night did come around, it was the only time Sebastian felt any other emotion other than anger and sorrow. Excitement came when he wondered who’d come see him tonight. Perhaps Myra would bring Lily back to the park or Joseph would stay with him in bed to cuddle…however, neither seemed to be the case when he did fall asleep. When his eyes closed, he was staring at darkness and when he opened them, the same inky blackness greeted him. “The hell? Joseph!” he called out. “Myra, Lily?” he rubbed at his eyes yet still no one came to see him. “Joseph!” he tried again.

“We’re here.”

Spinning around, Sebastian found the three he’d been calling for, standing a safe distance away making sure he couldn’t grab them. “What’s goin’ on? Where are we?”  
Myra and Joseph glanced at each other before Joseph decided to step forward, reaching out one gloved hand to lie against Sebastian’s tanned cheek, smiling just a bit. “We didn’t want distractions for what we wanted to talk to you about.”

Sebastian frowned, brows knitting together in confusion. “What is it?”

“This.” Myra said.

“This?”

Joseph nodded, reaching up to poke Sebastian’s temple with his other hand. “Your dreams.”

“What about them?”

“They aren’t healthy.” Myra said, moving to stand beside Joseph, Lily grasping her mother’s hand and Joseph’s. “Your obsession with trying to keep us alive. You know full well these are dreams and yet you force yourself to make reality the dream and this reality.”

“We are dead, Sebastian.” Joseph finished with a frown tugging at his lips. “You cannot change what fate we’ve been dealt.”

Sebastian shook his head, clenching his hands into tight balls. “Why can’t the three of you let me pretend and be happy?”

“If we did that, your happiness wouldn’t exist.” Myra said with a gentle touch to his arm.

“It would here!”

“And what of the real world? Are we supposed to watch you go around with that ugly scowl on your face, hating the world for mistakes and actions that were our own doing?”

The scowl Joseph spoke of appeared on Sebastian’s lips, head snapping up to meet their eyes as his arms snatched out so his hands could grip tightly around Joseph’s throat. “Just let me forget the damned reality out there! Let me believe this is real!” his grip tightened as his eyes darkened. “This is where I want to be! Where I want to be happy!”

Joseph placed his hands on Sebastian’s forearms, frowning at his partner. “You’re fooling yourself, Seb. This is all fake, a farce.”

“I don’t care if it’s all fake, it’s be real to me!”

“Sebastian, you’ve lost your mind.” Myra said.

He didn’t care as he continued to squeeze until before his eyes, all of what used to be Joseph melted away leaving behind his skeletal frame in Joseph’s clothes. Eyes now wide, he shoved the skeleton back, now catching sight of the bones that belonged to his wife and daughter, their skeletal fingers entwined together as Lily reached again for Joseph’s hand. “What the fuck did you do?!” The skeletons could say nothing without a tongue thus they lifted a boney finger to what should have been a blue sky. Following the finger,

Sebastian found a large clock, both its hands stopped at 7:21. “…the time I came outta STEM.”

“Yes. For you, time has stopped.”

Sebastian flicked his eyes back to the skeletons which were now back to flesh. “H-How long have I been mourning?”

“We’ve shown you. Our flesh does not exist anymore and our bones are almost gone as well.”

Sebastian stepped back from his family at the realization of how much time he let pass him by. Suddenly, his head felt woozy and he collapsed to his knees, leaning on his arms with his head bowed. “That’s…that’s too fuckin’ long. You haven’t been dead that long.”

“Yes, I have been. We all have been gone for quite some time.”

Sebastian felt tears sting at the corner of his eyes and tried to squeeze his eyes shut to prevent them from slipping. “I…” he swallowed thickly, hands curling into fists again. “I don’t care. I just want all of you back.”

“We know you do.” Sebastian felt the arms of the three of them around him, similarly how he used to hug each of them close to his chest.

“But you have to let us go now. Any longer and I’m afraid you’ll drift further into insanity.” He heard Myra whisper to him.

A chocked sob escaped him as he felt Lily’s soft, small, gentle finger wipe a tear from his cheek. “Don’t cry daddy. You said you were too big to cry.”

Another sob escaped him as he reached out to wrap his daughter in a tight hug. “Daddy has to cry.”

“Why?”

“Because daddy misses you so much.”

Her hands were small as they curled around his finger with the wedding band. “I miss daddy too but mommy and Uncle Joseph said it’s time for bed.”

He gripped her tighter. “No…no, I can’t let you go to bed.”

“You can.” Myra said laying her head on Sebastian’s shoulder. “I know you can, for all of us. We’re losing energy trying to make you happy Sebastian. We must rest and you must carry on for us.”

“…when can I see you again?”

Soft lips brushed the shell of his ear and Sebastian’s sight began to blur from the tears welling in his eyes. “In the end.” Joseph assured, squeezing him gently. As his sight continued to blur, he could feel their presence slowly start to fade, his daughter disappearing from his arms. “Now wake up…” and when Sebastian did open his eyes, he was alone with tears streaming down his cheeks which were soon followed by sobs as the clock started ticking again.


End file.
